The document discusses a lesson on curriculum integration between food and nutrition and mathematics taught to a Form 2 class in Trinidad and Tobago. The teacher worked with the food and nutrition teacher to develop a lesson where students would plan a nutritionally balanced meal. Students created frequency tables to track their meal preferences and identify the most popular option. Most students were able to accurately complete the frequency table, identify the mode, and design a balanced meal. While challenging to integrate the two subjects, the teacher found the students engaged and learned across disciplines.
The document discusses a lesson on curriculum integration between food and nutrition and mathematics taught to a Form 2 class in Trinidad and Tobago. The teacher worked with the food and nutrition teacher to develop a lesson where students would plan a nutritionally balanced meal. Students created frequency tables to track their meal preferences and identify the most popular option. Most students were able to accurately complete the frequency table, identify the mode, and design a balanced meal. While challenging to integrate the two subjects, the teacher found the students engaged and learned across disciplines.
The document discusses a lesson on curriculum integration between food and nutrition and mathematics taught to a Form 2 class in Trinidad and Tobago. The teacher worked with the food and nutrition teacher to develop a lesson where students would plan a nutritionally balanced meal. Students created frequency tables to track their meal preferences and identify the most popular option. Most students were able to accurately complete the frequency table, identify the mode, and design a balanced meal. While challenging to integrate the two subjects, the teacher found the students engaged and learned across disciplines.
The document discusses a lesson on curriculum integration between food and nutrition and mathematics taught to a Form 2 class in Trinidad and Tobago. The teacher worked with the food and nutrition teacher to develop a lesson where students would plan a nutritionally balanced meal. Students created frequency tables to track their meal preferences and identify the most popular option. Most students were able to accurately complete the frequency table, identify the mode, and design a balanced meal. While challenging to integrate the two subjects, the teacher found the students engaged and learned across disciplines.
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Transformations (1) – Curriculum Integration
According to Webster’s dictionary, integration is the combining and coordinating of
separate parts or elements into a unified whole. Integration deals with the extent to which
teachers use examples, data, and information from a variety of disciplines and cultures to
illustrate the key concepts, principles, generalizations, and theories in their subject area or
discipline (Banks, 1995). Curriculum integration is described as one that connects different areas
of study by cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration
focuses on making connections for students, allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful
activities that can be connected to real life. (Boyd, 2015). The approach used for curriculum
integration was based on the interdisciplinary model. In this approach to integration, teachers
organize the curriculum around common learnings across disciplines. They chunk together the
common learnings embedded in the disciplines to emphasize interdisciplinary skills and
concepts. The disciplines are identifiable, but they assume less importance than in the
multidisciplinary approach. (Drake and Burns, 2004). At my school, all the students from forms
1 to 3 are exposed to Food and Nutrition, also there is only one Food and Nutrition teacher who
teaches all the levels. Her name is Ms. L. Smith; she has been teaching at my school for over ten
years. After having conversations with her, it was realized that the form 2 class would be the best
to work with since they are more experienced than the form ones and aren’t undergoing any
NCSE or CSEC exams in term 3.
The next step of this curriculum integration lesson was choosing an area where learning
across disciplines can be easily linked. I then again consulted with Ms. Smith as she was the only
and best to do so. Her suggestion was to teach the students how to plan a nutritionally balanced
meal, she suggested this since the content form the NCSE syllabus is not very in depth with this topic of Meal Planning at this level and the concept she said is usually easy for students to grasp.
My next question to her was how do you plan a nutritionally balanced meal? She showed me the
text book in use and spent some time explaining to me what concepts the students needed to
grasp. She also suggested to me to do some research on the internet as there were some good
videos based on the concept.
My next task was to chunk together the common learnings embedded in the disciplines to
emphasize interdisciplinary skills and concepts so I need ideas some ideas. I then consulted a
colleague who was the former Head of Department of our Math department, her name is Mrs.
Gildharry. I asked her if she was able to assist me in brainstorming for some topics within the
form 2 math curriculum that could be easily integrated with the Food and Nutrition concepts. In
the end, after narrowing down on some topics taught in term 2, we both agreed upon the task of
creating frequency tables and identifying the mode since the students would have already been
introduced to a tally and mode in this current term. Now I had my skills and concepts to chunk
together, it was time to start lesson planning. As, suggested by Ms. Smith I researched on the
internet for videos and other useful pictures and pieces of information so students could visualize
and relate to the concept. I used a video for my set induction as I found that videos do capture the
students’ attention, then using content from the Food and Nutrition Text book I put together my
PowerPoint along with the mathematical task of drawing frequency tables. I was glad that I had
forty-five minute periods at my school at this point as I could was able to put more student
activates with the lesson. I found difficulty in the integration of questions so I then referred to
questions that would be done in both areas and attempted to mesh them together. After, I finished
the lesson plan and accompanying PowerPoint, I showed it to Ms. Smith to ensure that both content and questions were of a good standard and took any suggestions for improvements in
that she had to offer.
In the lesson, I tried to use local foods that students would have liked and were familiar
with to keep them interested and engaged. Their preferences played a part in the lesson which
worked well as they were fond of critiquing each other’s choices. They loved the collaborative
meal that they can up with using a frequency table and were able to recap the important points in
the lesson. At the end of the lesson, plicker and plicker cards were used in the final assessment
for three multiple choice questions, students were able to manipulate the plicker cards after
explanations of the use of the cards, however, this required the use of the internet two devices,
both the computer and the phone which did present some difficulty at first but worked out in the
end. The results showed that 90% of the students were able to identify the mode, 90% of the
students were able to accurately draw a frequency table and 90% were able to identify a
nutritionally balanced meal. My thoughts were that the lesson went well and was successful,
however I found the fusion of the curriculums to be very challenging. It was very important that I
the Math teacher fully understood what was being taught in the other subject area so that it was
delivered correctly with sufficient explanations to not lose the value of the lesson in each subject
area. In the future, it would be interesting to try fusing math with other subject areas as I do now
understand the importance of the curriculum and why there should be a space for learning
beyond subject boundaries.
References
1. Banks, J. (1995). Multicultural Education and Curriculum Transformation. The Journal
of Negro Education, 64(4), 390-400. doi:10.2307/2967262
